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| Lessons Learned • The Kremlin’s Disinformation Campaigns are Selective and Op- portunistic: While disinformation appears to have been an important factor in the 2016 referendum on the EU-Ukraine trade agreement, it did not seem to play a role in the 2017 parliamentary election. That suggests that concerted disinformation campaigns are not simply launched at every opportunity, but targeted and scaled depending on the expected success of their efforts. • Threat Awareness and Quick Adaptability are Effective Resil- ience Measures The Dutch government’s efforts to help raise awareness of and respond to potential cyber threats during the 2017 election period, especially by switching to paper ballots, protected the validity of the election and likely deterred efforts to interfere. VerDate Mar 15 2010 04:06 Jan 09, 2018 Jkt PO 00000 Frm 00121 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\COMMITTEE PRINT 2018\HENRY\JAN. 9 REPORT FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER 116 Rowena Mason, Theresa May Accuses Russia of Interfering in Elections and Fake News The Guardian, Nov. 14, 2017. Jeremy Kahn, UK Proves Russian Social Media Influence in Brexit Vote, Bloomberg Poli- tics, Nov. 2, 2017. 651 Griff Witte et al., In Stunning Decision, Britain Votes to Leave the EU The Washington Post, Jun. 24, 2016. Neil Barnett, The Kremlin’s Trojan Horses Russian Influence in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, The Atlantic Council, at 18 (2016). UNITED KINGDOM The Russian government has sought to influence democracy in the United Kingdom through disinformation, cyber hacking, and corruption. While a complete picture of the scope and nature of Kremlin interference in the UK’s June 2016 referendum is still emerging, Prime Minister Theresa May and the UK government have condemned the Kremlin’s active measures, and various UK government entities, 649 including the Electoral Commission and parliamentarians, have launched investigations into different aspects of possible Russian government meddling. 650 The UK government also worked to harden cyber defenses, particularly before the June 2017 election. The June 2016 referendum in which British voters opted for their country to leave the EU, famously dubbed ‘‘Brexit,’’ was a watershed moment for Western countries grappling with a resurgent wave of populism and nationalism in their political systems. Headlines the morning after the vote reflected the world’s—and many Britons’—shock. The Washington Post assessed it in stark terms British voters have defied the will of their leaders, foreign allies and much of the political establishment by opting to rupture this country’s primary connection to Europe in a stunning result that will radiate economic and political uncertainty across the globe.’’ 651 What was missing, however, in the morning-after news roundup was discussion of the Russian government and what role it may have played in helping to influence British voters decisions. Indeed, the picture of potential Russian meddling in the June referendum vote has only begun to come into sharper focus as subsequent elections around the world revealed common elements false or inflammatory stories circulated by bots and trolls, allegations of cyber hacking, stories in Russian state-sponsored media outlets playing up fears of migration and globalization, and allegations of corrupt foreign influence on political parties and candidates that suggested a possible Russian hand. The Kremlin has long aimed to undermine European integration and the EU, in addition to its aims to sow confusion and undermine confidence in democratic processes themselves, making Brexit a potentially appealing target. The allegations that have emerged of Russian interference prior to the Brexit referendum are all the more stunning given the innate resilience within British society to the Kremlin’s antidemocratic agenda. 652 A brief viewing of the lively sessions in Britain’s House of Commons is a reminder of the country’s traditions of popular representation, robust debate, and transparent governance. Nevertheless, analysts have cited pockets within the UK political system that are relatively more vulnerable to Russian influence. British campaign finance laws generally focus on restricting expenditures by political parties more than limiting donations, VerDate Mar 15 2010 04:06 Jan 09, 2018 Jkt PO 00000 Frm 00122 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\COMMITTEE PRINT 2018\HENRY\JAN. 9 REPORT FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER 117 The Political Parties, Elections and Referendum Act 2000, c. 41, § 54 (UK. 654 Download 0.63 Mb. Share with your friends:
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